Shrimp Tempura
Bring the clean, crisp texture of shrimp tempura to your kitchen with cake flour, ice water and light handling. A quick dip in hot oil creates a thin shell around juicy shrimp.
Servings: 4 people
Equipment
- Skillet or Deep Fryer
Ingredients
- 16 shrimp large, peeled, deveined, tail shell left on
- ¼ Teaspoon salt
- ⅔ Cup + 2 Tablespoons cake flour
- ⅔ Cup ice water
- 1 egg large
- cooking oil as needed
Instructions
- Cut shallowly along each shrimp’s belly to stop them curling up.
- Press them flat until they pop and stay relaxed.
- Trim the sharp tail tip (it’s best to remove the spiky shell at the end of the tail for safety and appearance).
- Whisk the ice water and egg in a bowl until just combined.
- Add the cake flour and salt, using chopsticks or a fork to gently press this into the mixture. Don’t overmix.
- Heat cooking oil in a skillet, pot or deep fryer to between 340 and 350°F.
- The oil is ready when a drip of batter sizzles and floats quickly without burning and the surface shimmers.
- Dip each shrimp in the batter to coat evenly.
- Add each shrimp belly up to the hot oil.
- Fry for 1 ½ minutes or until crispy and golden.
- You can also drizzle leftover batter into the oil to make crunchy pieces for decoration. This is optional.
- Remove the shrimp with a spider skimmer and drain on paper towels over a wire rack, then serve.
Notes
Keep it cold: Rest the batter bowl over ice so it stays chilled between batches. Don't have it near the stove as it gets too runny if warm.
Press, don’t stir: Press flour into the liquid so lumps remain and gluten stays low.
Pat shrimp dry: Dip dried shrimp into the batter so you don't have oil splattering later.
Belly side up: Fry belly side up so the shrimp stay straight and the coating sets evenly.
Trim tail tips: Snip sharp tail tips to avoid trapped water popping in hot oil.
Skim crumbs: Remove dark bits of floating batter so the oil stays pale and clean-tasting.
Work in small batches: Too many pieces cool the hot oil and make the coating heavy.
Press, don’t stir: Press flour into the liquid so lumps remain and gluten stays low.
Pat shrimp dry: Dip dried shrimp into the batter so you don't have oil splattering later.
Belly side up: Fry belly side up so the shrimp stay straight and the coating sets evenly.
Trim tail tips: Snip sharp tail tips to avoid trapped water popping in hot oil.
Skim crumbs: Remove dark bits of floating batter so the oil stays pale and clean-tasting.
Work in small batches: Too many pieces cool the hot oil and make the coating heavy.
Nutrition
Calories: 185kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 164mg | Potassium: 62mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 0.2g | Vitamin A: 60IU | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 1mg
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